textual analysis snow patrol & kings of leon

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-Textual Analysis- Music videos allowing the audience and the fans to integrate with the band on another level except for their musical work. However music videos are also used to highlight and promote an artist. Music videos allow the artist to cross over into another medium that they might not have considered before. Music videos sole aim is to expand the audience of an artist by reaching them on a new platform that allows them to identify them often creating a narrative that reflects the content of the song. By entering a new market segment and platform the artists can also increase their audience therefore resulting in an increase of sale of their CD’s and related products. They can also be used during synergy to connect two separate platforms into a single product that promote two products simultaneously. For instance the use of Paramore’s song Decode that was used for the soundtrack of Twilight so the music video featured clips from the film to creative a narrative and to highlight the synergy between the two separate products. Music videos also allow people to enter the platform with inventive and creative ideas so the creation of music video’s can be a tool for entry into the market through controversy or success. Album covers are used to connect with the audience and to attract their attention. Album covers can also be used to carry on an artist identity or persona for instance they may have a famous logo that they are known of which allows the audience to see that it belongs to that artist. Album covers usually identify what genre an artist is in and what their product may be like separating it from other products. The design of the product may also increase sales, which will benefit the artist and the producers, as well as possible increasing sales of other artist products. Magazine Adverts for digipaks are used to reach a larger audience as well as a way of catching the audience’s attention and trying to increase them to buy the product, which can be really effective. They allows the audience to identify with the artist as well as informing the

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Page 1: Textual analysis   snow patrol & kings of leon

-Textual Analysis-Music videos allowing the audience and the fans to integrate with the band on

another level except for their musical work. However music videos are also used to highlight and promote an artist. Music videos allow the artist to cross over

into another medium that they might not have considered before. Music videos sole aim is to expand the audience of an artist by reaching them on a new

platform that allows them to identify them often creating a narrative that reflects the content of the song. By entering a new market segment and platform the

artists can also increase their audience therefore resulting in an increase of sale of their CD’s and related products. They can also be used during synergy to

connect two separate platforms into a single product that promote two products simultaneously. For instance the use of Paramore’s song Decode that was used for the soundtrack of Twilight so the music video featured clips from the film to

creative a narrative and to highlight the synergy between the two separate products. Music videos also allow people to enter the platform with inventive

and creative ideas so the creation of music video’s can be a tool for entry into the market through controversy or success.

Album covers are used to connect with the audience and to attract their attention. Album covers can also be used to carry on an artist identity or persona

for instance they may have a famous logo that they are known of which allows the audience to see that it belongs to that artist. Album covers usually identify

what genre an artist is in and what their product may be like separating it from other products. The design of the product may also increase sales, which will

benefit the artist and the producers, as well as possible increasing sales of other artist products.

Magazine Adverts for digipaks are used to reach a larger audience as well as a way of catching the audience’s attention and trying to increase them to buy the product, which can be really effective. They allows the audience to identify with the artist as well as informing the audience of a product they might of not been

aware of. By selecting a magazine that would not normally appeal to your already formed audience you are able to find and form a brand new audience

allowing the product to reach a new audience. They also allow artists to form a new appearance, which they may, not normally identified with allowing the

artist rebrand themselves and their music.

Snow Patrol – New YorkMusic Video

This music video fits into the genre of alternative rock, which is the genre my chosen song for my video will fit into. The song lends itself to the slower end of this genre so this video may be different to other videos within

this genre. The style of this video is live action so we create

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a relationship with the subject throughout the video. The song has a solemn mood to it, which transcends into the music video; this allows a connection to be formed and an in depth feeling to be shared between the audience and the song.

The video is filmed within a bar which dark lighting which allows the mood to be created and an atmosphere to develop. The use of lighting also fits to the genre

and the tempo of the song, which helps to create juxtaposition between the two. However bright passing movement is shown in the shot so images have some

times been manipulated so that the lighting is lighter which allows the fun atmosphere that is surrounding him

to be shown as the colours connotation is excitement, lust and

passion which are all relevant to the music video and its content. The video also uses red lighting and

green lights to highlight the contrast in lust and jealousy, which are both

being felt by the subject in the video.

The video incorporates multiple different codes and conventions that allow the video to work well within the genre and within the video itself. The use of dress codes within the video allows me to look at the connection in appearance with the song. The use of dark clothing within the video reflects the nature and the mood of the song and the subject. The dark greens and blacks of the subjects

clothing helps to point out that he is mysterious and emotional which links back to the narrative of the video. The mysterious

nature of the man links to the storyline of the

narrative as we gain a vague outline of why he is upset but we never fully understand the story to his mood. The mise-en-scene of the bar helps to

create a setting that juxtaposes the mood of the song and the subject, which I think is really effective in the feel of the scene. The use of people in the video

helps to create a contrast between the mood and the actual events taken place.

The narrative follows a linear form allowing a story and sequence to form highlight the subjects loneliness progression throughout the evening despite

being surrounded by a group of people. The narrative forms as we see the camera diverting around the room showing the companionship and enjoyment

that is taking place in the room. The video keeps referring back to the main subject allowing us to see the way in which his mood is effective as well as into the way around the others have changed. The narrative of the video is fiction

however the narrative links back to the lyrics and the mood of the video and the song allowing them to compliment each other.

Page 3: Textual analysis   snow patrol & kings of leon

The narrative of the video fits extremely well with the content and the lyrics of the song that helps in the representation of the artist and of the song. The video attracts the audience a sit allows them to identify and feel for the artist allowing the song to become more powerful on more levels. The video contains the mood

and image that is reflected by the artists and their appearance that allows a juxtaposition to be created. The video is filmed in live action, which allows it to

connect with the audience as if they were there as it is not abstract and controversial. The main attraction of this video is that it creates a complete

products as well as identifying the story of the song, which will really engage with the audience.

Although the video is not a completely lip-synced and

doesn’t feature a band elements of the song are still used to show the connection between the music video and

the song. Within the video there is a shot of a man

playing the piano in time with the track, which demonstrates synchronous sound, which I could use in my

music video. The music video also features lip syncing however it is not continuous throughout the music video which allows the lyrics to be told like a

story of the character helping to highlight his emotions and traits which is something I would like to use in my music video to create a connection with the audience. As the music video begins a zoom shot is used to help identify that he

is the most important part of the video and the central figure as well as highlighting the characters loneliness within video linking back to the content of

the song. It is shot as if it is from someone’s perspective as people cross paths with the camera helping to highlight the amount of people making the man’s loneliness and emotions become more apparent within the shot. An editing technique is used to speed up the shoot to show the passing of time which is

really effective as it shows the correlation between the full bar and the empty bar. This once again highlights the fact that the man is lost and lonely which is links to the lyrics of the song and the songs meaning and message. People are passing the cameras path and shot view once again to highlight the movement and the mood of the bar, which helps to juxtaposition the characters emotions. The video uses cutaways to show the contrast in the mood of the people in the

bar and the character, which is something I think, really works in the creation of an atmosphere and a mood, which I think will be really effective if used in my

own music video. A panning establishing shot is used to show the environment that that it is set in which really helps to identify the message and the theme of

the video.

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Snow Patrol – Fallen EmpiresAlbum Cover

The album I have chosen is Fallen Empires by Snow Patrol as this is a band that has a similar sound to the product I hope to produce. This album fits under

the genre of Alternative Rock, which is the genre I plan to use in my work. The name

Snow Patrol and the title of the album Fallen Empires is placed at the top as a

way of identifying the CD as well as identifying the genre the album falls

under through the font and the image used. The album has a simple layout,

which is something that tends to lend itself to the rock genre, which supports the use of it within this product. This will help the album to gain popularity as well

as being easily recognizable to its fans and its audience.

The use of the red and black in the text are a convention of the rock genre in

album covers as it they have connotations of love, passion, death and mystery. It may also have connotation

danger that is also supported by the chosen title, which identifies the album

as a fallen empire, which creates juxtaposition between the name and the

use of the colour. The use of black for the title of Snow Patrol allows a juxtaposition to be formed again as snow has connotations of white which may

represent youth and innocent however the black represents mystery which when in placed with the red creates a completely new meaning for the text and

the album as a whole. The bold text face used fits well with the convention of the album being straight rock, as it does not create any fuse or confusion through the

title. The basic font may also indicate their music style, as it is very basic and clean which links

to their use of simplistic and gentle beats to create their music. The size of the text also helps the titles to stand out without over powering the rest of the cover.

The size is dominant on the page but it is not the main part of the page, which really works for the

album cover. The text follows the rule of thirds, which allows it to

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fall into our natural eye line, which will help the title to stand out when looking at the album for purchase.

The use of the bird and the sun for the image on the album really helps to make it stand out as it takes up the majority of the album cover whilst allowing the cover not to be completely covered. The use of the bald eagle is extremely important to the cover as it represents the band increasing their audience as well as spreading their wings which links to the idea of them trying something new musically. The

eagle also has connotations of inspiration which links to the idea that they received inspiration for this product that is extremely important to the creative process that took place for this album to be created. The eagle may also link to the idea of America as the album features a song called New York, which is in America. The bald eagle is the American emblem, which creates a connection

between the album and the use of the eagle. The eagle also has connotations of freedom, which also links to the use of the sun in the background as they both

symbolise life and growth, which are the main subjects of the album.

The colouring of the image helps us to identify that the eagle is the most important part of the page through its large present on the cover as well as the choice of the colouring to create mystery within the eagle as well as the use of the orange to create a contrast between the orange and the browns. Both the

colours have a natural feeling and connation’s creating juxtaposition through the page. The use of the orange and the red help symbolise passion and desire which

work well to form an emotion through the image. The album cover does not feature a star or an icon on the album, which allows us to see that the artist, is

not caught up in the appearance of the them but in the content, which is the music. The use of the grey as the background works well with the rest of the colours and the images chosen for the cover as it has connotations of being neutral and calm which creates a juxtaposition of the red, oranges and the

browns.

The representation of the album cover in the rock genre often don’t feature the artist which is a convention that is followed within this album as it simply has a

piece of art on the front which is a convention that is followed a lot at the moment as it allows the artists to focus on the work. I think this album reinforces this ideal and this convention, which I think, really helps the audience to identify which genre it is in. The audience of this CD will be someone who is already a fan

of Snow Patrol or a similar artist. People will buy the album as a source of escapism, which is supported by the chosen image on the cover, as it is

something you would not see everyday as well as the idea of spreading your

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wings into the unknown. Blumler & Katz (1974) stated in the uses and gratification that people use media texts as a way of escapism which links well

with the context and the visuals for the album cover.

Snow Patrol – Fallen EmpiresMagazine Advertisement

There is a clear correlation between the album cover an the advertisement as they both feature the eagle as the main point on the page which allows the album cover and the advert to follow a theme meaning that a clear direction can be seen by the audience allowing the two products to work together

and improve each others sales and effect. However in the advert the sun is not at the

bottom of the image as the text has replaced it making it the more prominent of the

advert. The replacement of the picture allows the text to stand out at the bottom without

being cluttered which works well to help the text stand out on the page and attract the

audience. The text at the bottom follows the rule of thirds as it allows it to fall in the eye

line of the reader, which helps to draw in their attention ultimately increasing sales

and interest in the product.

The advert is more spread out than the album cover, which allows the information to be looked at in more detail, which helps the information at the bottom to highlight what is on the CD and what other products are available

allowing the audience to have a greater choice, which will hopefully lead to more purchases. The

information at the bottom also helps

identify tracks that have already been

released which were successful which helps the

reader to recognise tracks they might of already heard as well as the introducing them to already released work. The use of the red text for the specific pieces of

information helps it to stand out which helps the advert highlight the key points as well as to create a house style, which helps create conformity through out the

publication work and the sales work.

Page 7: Textual analysis   snow patrol & kings of leon

Back Down South – Kings of LeonMusic Video

This music video and the song fit into the genre alternative rock which is what my chosen song fits into as it this may help me with ideas and plans for my own

music video. This video has a country side to it, which is evident in the music video and in the song itself. The

style of this video is live

action, which allows us to see the progression of a story, which

works well to intrigue and interest the

audience. The video combines the use of a storyline with shots of the band playing their own instruments in a party environment. The video has a fun and reckless feel to it which links to the lyrics and the context of the song creating

unification between the two products. The video is shot over a day so there is a progression of time through the video, which works well to help develop the

storyline and theme of the narrative. The video also features multiple unnamed characters, which allows a dynamic to be created in the video, which covers

multiple different circumstances and plans for the night ahead resulting in the party scene at the end.

This video features a major convention of rock music videos as it shows the band performing which appears in a lot of music videos. This allows the band to be

seen playing their instruments, which may result in people wanting to see them live. The clothing warn but the majority of the male figures in the video have a

very strong country them to them such as plaid and jean which link back the setting of the music video and the context of the lyrics which help to create a continuous theme throughout the video

which helps identify the genre of the song. The video also features the use of women in shorts which may be seen as a use of the Male

Gaze theory stated by Laura Mulvey, which states that scantily clad dressed women may draw an appeal to the male audience which can also be reversed in

the use of male figures in the video to attract the female attention so a large audience is appealed to in the video. The songs prominent meaning is about

heading back to a home town or city and having a party and catching up with friends and this is something that is show in the music video allowing the

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audience to connect within the song and the band which helps to translate the meaning indicating the use of the Encoding/Decoding theory stated by Stuart

Hall that producers encode a message into a media text and the audience decode it taking what they need from the product. The use of it in this music video

indicates that the producers what the audience to decode the message of having a fun atmosphere which is decoded within the video by the audience.

The narrative of the music video follows the

progression of a variety of peoples days as toward the bands gig that they

attending later that day as well as the cross cutting

between the bands gig and the preparations for the gig. The video follows a linear narrative which

helps the audience to identify an order of events as well as key characters within the plot. The narrative is fiction which allows the audience to travel on a journey that may not have happened in real life developing a back story whilst allowing a passage of time to be created allowing the video to show a journey in detail over

a prolonged period of time. The video shows multiple groups of people performing various tasks throughout the day in preparation of the evening’s

events. The creation of an end setting in the video allows us to see the various groups of people congregate in one place creating an complete equilibrium

which fits to Todorov’s Equilibrium which states that each narrative starts which a balance in the equilibrium which is then unbalanced allowing the equilibrium

to be restored which allows the video to have a complete narrative.

The video contains iconography which allows the video to identify the artist of the song whilst also allowing the audience to gain an interest as they may

already be fans of the band which means that they will appreciate the iconography and the use of live instruments in the song to create a more realistic

view point. It also allows the audience to understand the genre of the song as well as the style of

the band both musically and physically. It may also allow the

Male Gaze theory to appear as the audience may be attracted to the

band which may help them to create a more in depth interest of the band which will help the band with sales and interest. The video has a clear representation of the

southern states of America which helps to create an identity for the music video as well as allowing people from that region to identify with the event s and the

Page 9: Textual analysis   snow patrol & kings of leon

people in the video helping to create a clear depiction of the south. The use of late teens and people in their 20’s allows a greater audience to identify with the

subjects of the video creating a common interest and knowledge between the two allowing the audience to understand the mood and the style of the music

video more in depth.

The video uses a lot of cross cutting to show the various people that are featured in the video as well as the band which allows a constant connection to be

reinstated within the video creating the progression in the story as well as linking the beginning and the end of the video. The video features a lot of low angle shot partially obstructed which allows the video to have a more realistic

feeling as well as giving the video a certain aesthetical feel which is allow expanded through the use of lighting to create a unique feel and look to the video. The camera has a continuous slight movement throughout the whole

music video which allows me to determine that a tripod was not in the films. The slight movement helps to exaggerate the realistic element of the video allowing it

to connect with the audience better whilst creating a more in depth response from the audience. The video consists heavily of tracking shots allowing the

audience to feel as if they are in the music video which allows the connection between the audience and the video to be strengthened which may result in an

increase in sales and interest in their products and themselves.

Kings of Leon – Come Around SundownAlbum Cover

The album cover has the name of the album at the bottom and the name of the band at

the top and these are the only pieces of text upon the page allowing them to be

identifiable. The use of a single, simplistic image is a convention within this genre on music album covers as the bands tend to identify themselves more with the music

then the visuals of the tracks. The use of the single image and the style of the image

helps us to identify what genre and style the tracks will be so from this we can guess that

the music may be rocky with a calm edge which is what the album consists of.

The lettering on the page allows us to see what genre that the music fits to as it has a rock style to it allowing the audience to identify and understand what they

might be buying also allowing them to increase their interest

which may lead to a purchase of the product based on the style of

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the cover. The lettering fits with the image on the cover as it follow the theme by using the white whilst also not distorting or changing the layout of the picture

creating a central point of the cover. The placing of the text also follows the rule of third which means that our eye line naturally falls towards certain parts of the page utilizing the cover and the artwork. The choice of font also allows the text to

be clear and concise which helps extend the style of the picture creating a complete style throughout the cover.

The use of the orange, brown and beige colouring help to create an emotion between the audience and the cover as well as highlighting the mood of the

album musically which may entice the audience to buy it. The orange helps to emote a calming feeling which reflects the content of the CD allowing the

audience to understand the content of album without listening to it. The use of the natural colouring also reflect the content of the CD and the where their music

is derived from and the nature in which they live allowing a connection to be formed between the music and the

audience. The colour brown has connotations of simplicity which works

with the use of such a simple piece of art work to create a clear and clean album

cover. Orange has connotations of luxury which works with the idea of the palm trees as they are often seen as a sign of

luxury within society allowing a connection to be formed. The use of the

two palm tree’s helps to transcend a message of relaxation and tropical nature which creates an idea of escapism

which may have been encoded by the producers to allow the audience to see the album as a form of escapism which fits with the Uses & Gratification theory

stated by Blumler & Katz that people use media texts as a form of escapism as well as the Encoding & Decoding theory stated by Stuart Hall.

The album cover does not contain much representation of the band themselves which means that the product may appeal to a much larger audience then an

album cover with the bands pictures all over it as well as allowing the audience to decided what they think about the music without any preconceived ideas

about what they think it might be. The album cover does reinforce the convention of rock album covers not having much on the front allowing the

album to form its own identity.

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Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown Magazine Advertisement

Once again there is a clear correlation between the album cover and the magazine advert as they feature

extremely similar colouring and the same font. By using two media texts that have

such a clear correlation the two products are connected and the target audience is

able to identify the two products and create a connection themselves between the two. Although the two products are

similar the advertisement contains a different picture which depicts the edge of

the palm tree which is within the album cover. The text however follows a similar layout to the album cover by placing the

band name at the top and the album name at the bottom which allows the image to be a fundamental part of the page once again. The replacement of the picture

allows the layout to be clearer as it allows the text to be placed in a way that does not conflict with the image. The palm tree

once again symbolizes escapism and luxury which reinforces the encoding and decoding theory allowing the audience to create their own idea about what the

product symbolizes.

The text at the bottom indicates where and when you

can by the products which allow the audience to know the

main details about the album allowing the product to reach a

wider audience as well as informing them of specific details. The use of the white text on the background helps the albums text to

stand out which will allow the text to be more easily read as well as being clearer from a distance allowing it to grab the attention of the audience as they flick

through the magazine. The placing of the text also allows it to follow the rule of thirds which means that the reader’s attention will be drawn to the specific parts of the page where the key information is. The use of the sales company logo also allows people to create a visual memory of the product which may help them to find the product when it is released on sale. The use of the website address on

the advert also means that the audience may go look on their website which may result in them seeing other Kings of Leon products which allows the audience to

increase their interest as well as their purchasing habits.